You Do What You Do For Family
by sistervamp
Summary: Dean and Sam have a sister who is younger than Dean, but older than Sam and they now live in California after the death of Mary Winchester. With a different path of life what adventures can we expect from everyone's favourite family?
1. Prologue

**A/N: I can claim no rights over the supernatural characters only my own characters. This story hasn't been beta'd so mistakes my appear that I have missed. If certain phrases don't really make much sense to any of the American audience, I do apologise, but I am british so I may slip and use different terms and phrases however hard I try to use the American term. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and con-crit is welcome :)**

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_**Los Angeles, California: 1996**_

Dean was curled on his bed as he looked over his notes for the test the next day. So they didn't expect Dean to do well, but that didn't stop him trying. Here was the guy who during his high school freshman year in art class drew an exact replica of the impala that often dropped him off at school, hood up and the innards were in such detail that it could have been a photograph were it not for the perfectly written and correctly placed annotations describing every inch of the car. He'd even managed to fit on the A2 sheet of crisp white paper, the advantages and disadvantages of every aspect of the car.

"You know Genghis Khan and Attila won't come up right?" This statement from the boy next to him made Dean sigh. Of course he knew that, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

"Yup. I'm pretty sure that's why Mr Walker hates me. I prefer those guys over the Civil War." Dean shrugged; it wasn't like he cared anyway. It was only history and seriously if you could stay awake in that class then you deserved a medal.

"Judging by your sleeping habits he might be a tiny bit pissed, but you know sleeping while have drool sliding down your chin is pretty funny." The blue eyed boy wonder chuckled patting the top of Dean's thigh suggestively.

"Dude we gotta revise." Dean gulped and the boy took that as a win for now. For once they got more than 5 minutes of studying done before the inevitable screaming like alley cats began. Normally he'd shut it out, but with a test the next day, it was easier said than done.

"Fuck this and fuck them! Seriously someone has a test tomorrow!" Dean yelled slamming his palm against his wall that just so happened to back onto Sam's own lilac room wall…yeah the less said about that the better.

"I'd rather fuck you."

"Seriously Cas, for someone who's supposed to be such an innocent boy of religion, you have a one track mind." Dean laughed. As much as he complained about it, he also loved knowing that he had this effect on him.

"Not what you were saying last night." Castiel commented. Dean shook his head and leaned into his boyfriend, laying his aching head onto his shoulder.

"Anyone ever tell you, you talk too much?" Dean mumbled. Seriously, the civil war always gave him a headache.

"You know how to shut me up, Dean." Cas laughed. That sound was almost like a mantra to the eldest Winchester boy.

"Don't tempt me." Dean replied in a dangerously low voice that Cas understood to be one of something akin to lust.

"'I can resist everything except temptation' how about you?" Cas quoted, he knew Dean's odd little soft spot for everything Oscar Wilde. The boy was far too cultured for his tender age of seventeen. Dean didn't answer verbally; it was hard to do when he was attached, perhaps permanently, to the soft curve of his boyfriend's lips. Just as the need for oxygen became too much (he wasn't all that into oxygen deprivation anyway) his bedroom door flew open slamming against the calming blue of his bedroom walls.

"Deeeaaaan!" Whined the unstoppable, bouncing force of nature that was his sister, who now stood looking innocent in the doorway.

"What do you want Kit?" Dean groaned as he turned to face his sister who had rather rudely interrupted him and Cas. She looked so innocent, but underneath that sweet exterior, she was a little horror.

"Where's your Final Doom game?" Katherine Winchester asked with her usual grin. Dean shook his head, that game had been a Christmas present for him, but it seemed his sister got more use out of it than he did, but oh well his hands were usually otherwise occupied.

"If it's not in the console bag, it's at Uncle Bobby's." Dean answered, trying to get rid of his sister. She was lucky, her room was on the other side of the house and as such, she never heard much of what her older brother was up to, unfortunately that meant that Sam would claim sanctuary in her room and thus the fights began.

"Thanks bro." She grinned running off without closing the door behind her. She was such a guy really, that it never ceased to amuse him.

"She'd totally get on with Loki." Cas laughed as he referred to the Norse God who was infamous for being a trickster.

"I swear she's the human equivalent of that guy." Dean agreed as the two boys ended up studying again, the mood suitably ruined by Dean's sister.

_**Los Angeles, California: 1997**_

Dean was now eighteen and due to graduate in three months, but first he not only had Prom to worry about, he had some business to attend to beforehand that could make his world turn upside down. Sure his sister – and by default his brother – knew about his sexuality, but his dad didn't. That would be the hardest thing he could do, he had to come out to his dad. He remembered the day Cas came to school after telling his parents, and well even though he wouldn't say what happened, the limp and the black eye told a story all of their own. It was a Sunday and that meant that if this went tits up, then Dean could seek refuge at his friend's place. He did actually mean friend and not his boyfriend who was now considering moving out of California. He didn't want the boy he loved to see him in a state; he couldn't do that to him. The college was in Illinois and Dean couldn't afford to leave California, he just couldn't. With all that playing on his mind, he didn't hear his name spoken. He was out of the loop of things and it was strange for him to be so out of touch with his world that he wondered if he was finally losing his mind.

"Dean? Did you hear a word I just said?" John asked his eldest, frustration evident in his voice.

"No, I was just thinking." Dean admitted, it always shocked John, how honest the kid was with him. Dean looked at his dad and took a deep breath, something told him it was now or never. He'd been looking for the most opportune moment and now here it was; now he had the perfect chance to tell his dad, he had to take it.

"Dad? There's something…" He started, but was cut off hearing the yells of his younger siblings that had the family dog running for cover. He'd never get his time to tell them at this rate! Quite honestly, John didn't give a damn what the fight was about this time, if it wasn't Sam borrowing something of Kate's or Kate waking Sam up then it was something else entirely.

"Will you two shut up? Your brother wants to say something!" John snapped glaring menacingly at his youngest children. They soon fell silent, as much as they liked a good fight, they both knew it wasn't worth angering their father, besides they all had an idea what it was that Dean had to say. John calmed himself and watched as a calming sensation fell upon his two most volatile children, it was at that moment Dean knew he had to finish what he had set out to do, even if he did feel like running away and be damned if he needed the car to do that, he was fast enough without it. He stood up making sure he was near a door and began pacing as he tried to form the words. The loaded comments over the past year had been irritating and he had to make sure they stopped and this was all he could think of, okay so they wouldn't completely stop, but at least they wouldn't rumble his secret.

"I...I'm still me right? I haven't changed and I don't want to change. There's something…I don't know how to explain it, but I'm gay." Dean blurted, his words came out in a flurry that matched his disjointed thoughts as he tried to prepare for an onslaught that he'd have to run from, it was all he expected after talking to Cas about his own experiences, in fact it was a surprise that the religious freak of a father that had hurt the innocent boy for who he dared to fall in love with hadn't made Cas move schools, cut all contact with Dean and marry some girl who could never capture the blue eyed boy wonder's heart. Instead he got laughter and smiles, he knew his siblings knew, they'd been the first people he'd told, well after Cas of course.

"I know. Dean, we all know. And you have a boyfriend who you keep trying to fool us into believing is just a friend." John chuckled shaking his head; this boy was going to give him grey hairs.

"What? You know…? How?" Dean gasped, he hadn't expected his family to already know, well his dad anyway and he doubted his siblings would have said anything to him about it.

"You weren't exactly subtle, Dean. Besides watching movies with you and you stare not so subtly at the guys instead of the girls. Although thanks for changing my worries about you. Instead of just worrying about your dick, I have to worry about all the other dicks." John chuckled, he was fine with it and honestly as long as his son was happy, who was he to argue? Usually the first, but this wasn't about staying up an hour later than was decent, this was about who his son was and who cares if the boy is attracted to men.


	2. Chapter 1

The silk sheets, the gorgeous views, the plush pillows, the quiet and the room service meant nothing to her. In fact he'd rather be in some trashy motel room with his family than in the big hotels. The lonely star looked into the large mirror and sighed as his hazel eyes shone with how much he missed his family. Tonight he was in New York, tomorrow night he could be in another state and it scared him. His sister was used to this; she'd been a touring star ever since she left high school and had warned him of how hard it was to be so far away from home. He wished he had listened and had stuck with the garage that no doubt would be a wreck by the time he came back from the tour. He took a shower in an attempt to waste time until he knew his son would be back from school, the boy was a pain in the ass, but he was also a sweet kid who deserved a second chance in life. Sure enough his phone rang as he climbed out of the shower, the sound of 'Family' blared from the tiny speaker in his phone, he chuckled every time he heard that son, it hadn't been his ideal choice of song, but it was perfect for who was calling.

"When you coming home dad? Pa's boring and knows fuck all about cars!" A familiar voice called down the phone, the pout audible in his voice.

"Language Anthony! I'll be home when I can, I promise kiddo." He couldn't help but chuckle at his son, he was definitely a bad influence on the kid and it gave him hope that the garage wasn't going down the shitter. There was a bit of a scuffle and some choice words that was to the tune of Anthony storming off insulting someone's mother – another thing he'd learned off his father – there would be words when he got home from the tour.

"Evening hazel-eyes." A voice that made the very innards of the star's melt smiled into the phone.

"You cheesy bastard, Cas!" He laughed curling on the large bed as he listened to the voice of his husband who was almost 2,500 miles away.

"You know you love it Dean." Cas chuckled as he turned down the stereo he was listening to.

"So when are we telling Ant that I'm flying home after the gig?" Dean smiled, he was a little afraid of flying, but he usually just kept his thoughts on his family and those thoughts kept him calm enough to not freak out on the plane.

"When you walk through the door and sit him down." Cas grinned, they'd been planning this visit ever since Dean had left on his tour. He only had this one gig to do before he had 6 months break. Of course during those months he'd be writing some new songs and working in the garage, he never had a day off even if he could. They talked for hours catching up on everything from their days, it was just something they liked to do while Dean was away. They talked about everyone in their lives, Katherine, Sam, Anthony, Kelly, Gabriel and Joey, but never once did they mention John. It was too painful for Dean to even think about. One day he'd have to confront it, but until then he'd avoid the topic of his father who for years Dean had looked up to. It wasn't even that John was a bad father or had damaged his kids in some way, but it was mainly down to what happened while Dean was twenty, leaving him to take charge of the family. He'd talk about it one day when he was ready and Cas knew that.

"Dad, tell Pa to make me some food! I'm starving." Anthony whined into the handset. Dean shook his head, the boy always did think about his stomach above anything else. He'd obviously managed to wrestle the handset from his father who would no doubt be sat wondering how the hell that had happened.

"Have you got homework?" Dean asked sternly.

"Daad!" Anthony whined, Dean knew that whine, it was the 'Yes I have homework, No I can't be fucked to do it' whine that his sister had used too many times on him growing up. Most people assumed that the singing star dad would be the cool one and the teacher dad would be the disciplinarian, but it was actually the other way around. Dean was the dad who wasn't afraid to punish his kids, where Cas would be the dad who encouraged his kids to prank Dean.

"Do your homework tonight Anthony and you know where the cookie jar is." Dean groaned, out of the two children he and Cas had, Anthony was the one who cause the most trouble, but their youngest was the one who Dean worried about the most. She was exactly like her aunt and that was what scared him. He wanted his daughter to be a kid for as long as she could, that was difficult with her fast approaching the day she would take her place at the local high school where everyone knew who her father was. He was something of a legend, the kid who caused the most trouble for the teachers and for that alone he was everyone's favourite hero. There had been a few idiots who had tried to recreate his pranks, but of course they had failed, he had been flattered at the time, but he had to be sensible now.

"Did you just lay the law down to our son?" Cas asked in awe after he'd managed to wrestle the phone back from the sixteen year old boy.

"I had to, he's going to have SAT's and finals, he needs to do his work." Dean sighed, he hated being the disciplinarian.

"Says you, the guy who slept through high school history!" Cas laughed at the memories of Dean sleeping and drooling as they covered the civil war.

"You kept me awake most nights, Cas. It wasn't my fault and that's exactly my point. I wasn't a good student and I'll be dammed if Anthony's going to go down the same road I did. He's got the ability to go to college and I swear that he's going to go. I knew what I wanted ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a mechanic and that's what I was for a while, it's what I am during my down time, but I still had to graduate. It wasn't easy spending time out of school after I'd had yet another reaction to some damn food, if it wasn't for extra credit." Dean ranted shaking his head. He had hated school, but he had also missed it when he'd been kept off to get better after going into yet another anaphylactic shock from his allergy. He'd had to avoid a lot of food from that moment on and it was hard for him, but it kept him alive.

"You struggled in history at times, but you always did well in the exams. You aced Autoshop and biology was like your yellow sun where history was like your green kryptonite, but I was like your Chloe, I was always on hand to help and you know you did well. You came out with a B, that's not bad. You had the GPA for college, but you stayed and I did the college route. Chill out Dean, even superman had his weaknesses." Cas reassured him. This was exactly why Dean loved Cas, whenever he felt low and like giving up, Cas would be there to pick him up and show him just where his worth lay.

"I'm such a bad influence on you." Dean laughed, it was usually him who made all the references to Superman and the other marvel comic book heroes, but it was both a shock and a change to hear Cas make the very same references that he would himself. He glanced over at the clock and groaned, it was six hours until his final show of the tour and he was exhausted from all the rehearsals and his poor fingers were almost ripped to shreds from playing his guitar so much. He could hear squabbling in the background and groaned.

"I swear, the sooner you come back home, the better Dean. Maybe Ant would stop upsetting his sister." Cas groaned as he pulled the children apart, sending them to their rooms.

"You and I both know that won't happen. I grew up with Sam and Kit, they fought like all the time, I think the only time they stopped when Dad told them to was the day I decided to tell dad everything." Dean chuckled, it made a change not to have to stop the fights. In fact that was the only thing he didn't really miss on tour, the fights between the two children.

"Dean? Remember be amazing and you're an amazing artist." Cas smiled.

"Flattery gets you everywhere Cas. Which is why I love you." Dean chuckled before ending the phone call so Dean could catch a light nap before his show.


	3. Chapter 2

A few hours later Dean was stood on stage strumming on his guitar as he sang his heart out for the last time for the next 6 months. It never ceased to surprise and humble him when his audience knew every single word to all of his songs. This was part of the reason he loved his fans. He got to the end of his song and noticed a woman stood in the front row and he had a flash of brilliance that perhaps would get him killed after the show.

"I'd like to share this final song with a woman who encouraged me to go for my dreams. Without her support I wouldn't be stood here in front of all you guys. When I was twenty I did move from my hometown and I needed picking up off the ground around that time and it was her who picked me up and ever since I heard this song when it came out in 2006 I have always considered this song to be a sort of anthem about returning home. Let's welcome up my best friend and sister Katherine Winchester." Dean grinned at the woman who was now glaring at him. They always attended the final show of each other's tour and this was the first time he'd ever decided to call her up on stage. That was Dean though, forever the one to change things up a bit. He had sung this song all tour and tonight would be the first time it would be sung as a duet rather than a solo. He already had a direction for his next album, it would be songs about home and family, it would be a mix of his own songs and covers. He grinned as she came on stage and glared at him as he handed her one of his guitars, it had been one that he'd taught her how to play with.

"I'm going to kill you." She hissed at him as she put the guitar on.

"And you'll kill this song. Open mic night, 2007, remember it and this is just that." Dean reminded her. It had been the song that had given him his big break and it forever held a place in his heart, he hadn't ever told anyone that. The opening bars played and exactly fourteen seconds in, Dean began to sing as he looked at his sister so she could watch for her cue.

"I spent 20 years trying to get out of this place, I was looking for something I couldn't replace, I was running away from the only thing I've ever known." Dean sang strumming his guitar, he saw the smile of recognition on his sister's face. Had she known she would be singing this song, she'd have almost ripped his arm off for the guitar. She grabbed hold of the second microphone stand and opened her mouth to sing.

"Like a blind dog without a bone, I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone, I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold." She sang, her Stevie Nicks voice melding surprisingly well with the country tones of Dean's voice. It was the opposite way round to when the original had been sung since Jennifer Nettles had been the one with the country voice. The two different voices complemented each other as the final song played. It was an unusual treat to see the two talented Winchester's up on stage singing together. At the end of the song, with the adrenaline finally burned through, Dean walked off stage ready to pack his crap and catch a flight home to be with his family. One day he would take a break from music, but he wouldn't ever want to be too old to be able to do it, it had become his life and it was something that kept him from losing his mind.

"So you're done with the tour now Dean?" Kate asked leaning against the door jamb watching her big brother.

"Looks like. We should get back to our families Katie. We both know your husband and daughter will be missing you." Dean smiled as he picked up his duffle bag and threw it over his shoulder as he made sure he had everything. He'd already packed up his case from the hotel that morning and knew that there wasn't anything left there. Once he was satisfied that he hadn't left anything behind he closed the door walking out down the corridor to the exit of the venue.

"Katie? Since when did you stop calling me Kitty?" Kate shook her head, it was weird to hear such a grown up nickname from her brother who insisted on calling her by her childhood nickname.

"Since I gave you away after you decided not to invite dad to your wedding. You know that crushed dad, he wanted to be able to see his only daughter take that leap into adulthood. He got the chance to see his eldest son marry and become a father, he saw his youngest happy with a med student and he saw the same son miserable when the arsonist struck again, but you denied him the chance to see you get married. That was low Katherine that was very low." Dean hissed at her, despite them being close, they were now the ones who fought all the time.

"Dad's no longer there. It hurts seeing him like that, you have no idea how much it hurts. I wanted my day to be happy, but it wasn't without him there, but would he have even recognized his own daughter?" She sighed as she looked at the ground.

"I know better than you do. Ever since the damn propane tank blew up, he's not been the same. He flinches every July 4th; you have never been the one to nurse him back to health after a heart attack. I've had to stop him from committing suicide, but I'm glad you or Sammy have never had to do that, the both of you could have had your lives and you did. He recognizes you of course he does, it's post traumatic stress, not dementia!" He blurted as he stood at the door having this fight with his sister yet again. He went too far tonight with the fight and Kate ran off leaving Dean yelling after her. He always put his foot in it with her and he missed the days when everything was fine and he didn't have to worry about what he was saying or how he was saying it. He gave up shouting and decided to head to his car that would take him to the airport for his flight home. No doubt Kate would be on her bike riding back to her family and complaining to her husband about what a dick her brother was. It had always been tense between the two of them since the wedding, but this would only make it worse. The one time they were truly open with each other was when they were singing together. He missed the days when they'd hang out together working on the impala, when he'd teach her how to play the guitar or when they just relaxed with a beer watching whatever match was on TV. Now he was lucky to be able to last a day without them falling out, but hey this was family. It wasn't supposed to make you happy, family were supposed to make you miserable or so an old family friend had said once. His mind was racing as he got on the plane. He looked at his phone and surprisingly she hadn't been in touch to tell him what a dick he was and it had him worried. She'd turn up alive though, she'd be back in touch and they'd be brother and sister again, it was how it always happened. He tried to settle as he listened to a CD that he played all the time, it was his sister's last album with a song about having an amazing brother and it brought tears down his face. She looked up to him and was in complete awe of him and yet he'd upset her tonight. Why did he do that? He hated himself for it and it would serve to bring him much regret in time to come. Before that he had to go home and spend time with his family who he sorely missed.

"I'm sorry Kit." He whispered before he finally fell asleep. By the time he landed at LAX, Kate was riding home on her bike and was two states over from New York. It would take her a few days to come home and by the time she did she would have forgiven her brother. She always forgave him because she loved him to pieces and never wanted to hate him no matter what he did to upset her.

"Don't be sorry Dean, I forgave you as soon as the words left your lips." She whispered up into the dark night sky speckled with stars somewhere in Ohio.


	4. Chapter 3

Dean had a feeling that something bad would happen, he just knew it. Cas could feel it too and Dean was inclined to believe the intuition of a fallen angel who had remained fallen to be with his human. Despite hearing from his sister who was now passing through Palo Alto, Dean had a horrible feeling that she wouldn't arrive home safely. He'd still gone to the studio to record his new album and was now having serious pitching problems. Normally Dean loved being in the studio, it was an escape for him, just another world away from his real hectic world. This album he was to be recording was one about family, it was one dedicated to his family. He'd recorded a grand total of one song and was listening to the play back when his cell blared out the generic ringtone and his panic rose. This was it, this had to be it and he wasn't any more prepared for it.

"He..Hello?" Dean stuttered out of fear, that was the only time he couldn't speak. He was used to these calls, but with John on the mend, there was no way it was his father who needed him and that only left the one person he could think of. He was ready to hope that it was a prank.

"Is Dean Winchester available?" A gentle female voice asked. The voiced sounded young, but there was a sense of being older beyond her years and that was what made him realized this was no joke.

"That's me." Dean replied automatically as his brain fired ahead coming up with scenarios. Kate's had an accident, something's gone wrong with her latest surgery, Sam's been hurt somehow. It was just a matter of which scenario would be the outcome of the next person to speak.

"I'm calling from the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center where we have Katherine Winchester currently conscious and she's named you as her next of kin." The voice explained.

"What's happened to my sister?" Dean panicked.

"There was a collision involving a car and your sister's bike. She's in the ICU at the moment…" She never got chance to say any more that as she was cut off by a worried big brother.

"I'm on my way, just have someone meet me to give me the details when I arrive and for the love of all things holy, keep her alive." He was worried as he spoke; it was possible to hear it in his voice. He hung up turning to his producer, his throat closing up as he held back his tears. He had to be strong for everyone and he couldn't break.

I gotta go. I can't do this today, not after that call." He wasn't making much sense and it didn't help that he felt like he'd let down his manager and his fans, but he knew that some things were more important than music and recording a new album."

"Dean, you have to complete the recording session." The producer instructed him, not knowing what had just happened. It was just money to the studio, money that Dean could afford to waste if it meant he could be with his sister while she was alive.

"Fuck the session and fuck the lot of you. My sister's been in an accident and someone has to go and be strong for my family. A twelve year old could lose her mother so fuck this album. It can fucking wait!" Dean snapped, picking up his jacket and walked out of the studio leaving the occupants stunned. That was the last thing he remembered before running into the hospital, the adrenaline always short circuited his memory banks. He didn't remember ringing Cas to arrange picking up Joey, Anthony and Joanna from their schools. He didn't remember ringing Gabriel to get his ass to the hospital. He didn't remember ringing Sam to bring John to the hospital. He was greeted by a young nurse with red hair, she looked too young to be in the hospital and he found himself wondering how old she was.

"Mr. Winchester?" She questioned upon seeing him walk through the door, she knew who he was of course, almost everyone in America did, but she remained professional.

"Yeah. What sate's my sister in? What the hell happened?" He questioned his panic and worry audible in his normally strong voice. The nurse looked at Dean and seeing his eyes, she found he was the sort of guy who might appreciate the facts as the seemed before she began to put her own opinions into the mix. There was something not quite right with the story of what happened and the evidence, but something told her that the story was the one to look at and to ignore the evidence.

"It looks serious, she has her left leg broken in three places from the bike falling on top of her and pinning her in place. She was lucky that she had been wearing biking leathers, since they left her with minor road rash. Her helmet ensured she got away with a mild concussion and she has a few facial bruising and lacerations also to her face. She has five broken ribs on her right side, two cracked ribs on her left side. As you can imagine she's in a lot of pain and has been given morphine for the pain. She's lucky to be alive and she's avoided the need for plastic surgery. There's no alcohol in her blood and we're just waiting for a tox screen to rule out drugs." She rattled through the facts before they got to stand outside the doors to the unit.

"Katie does not do drugs! She has to be forced to take prescription drugs never mind taking recreational drugs. I know my baby sister and she wouldn't ever touch drugs." Dean snapped, perhaps unfairly. For a fraction of a second the nurse wondered if she'd made a mistake in telling him all the facts, but no she hadn't something told her that he would appreciate it once he calmed down. She let him rant, knowing it would be better for him if he got it out of his system, now, than while he was with Kate. Despite being in so much pain, she had been joking with the nurses and doctors, in fact she had t be the most upbeat road traffic accident patient they'd ever had come through the ER and the ICU put together. When she was quite sure he wouldn't flip out again, she felt she could speak.

"Mr. Winchester, please remain calm, your sister will need you to be calm." She soothed him and although it did annoy him a little, he saw the sense in what she was saying. Despite the anger in his next few words, he was calm and composed and that to most people would be worse than him shouting and screaming, but not this odd little nurse.

"Could you remain calm if people were saying falsehoods about someone close to you? No you damn well couldn't. There is no way this incident was an accident and I'm sorry Nurse Milton, but I can't listen to these accusations against her." Dean shook his head, someone was trying to kill his family and had succeded on two occasions, they'd already killed his mom and then his sister-in-law, they'd almost killed his brother and now this. He wanted to know who was trying to off the Winchester's one by one. There had to be a reason behind it, there was something he didn't know about his family, some deep dark secret that would eventually kill them all.

"Call me Anna. Honey, I just gave you the facts, but personally I agree with you, there was no way this was an accident. I believe my intuition over anything and it's never been one once. I've followed the careers of you and your sister in the press and you're both pretty damn clean. I find it hard to believe that she was drinking or taking anything that would inhibit her ability to drive her bike. It's protocol to do these tests even if we believe we have an idea about the results." She smiled gently as she spoke, it was strange the calm that befell Dean when this odd, intriguing red headed placed her hand on his arm. He had felt a surge of power that he had only ever felt in the presence of Cas or Gabriel and that made him realize something about this young woman, whether she knew it or not she was an angel. She didn't have her grace or all of it, but she had the lingering presence of her former grace. Nurse Anna Milton was an angel and it made him feel that his sister was in the hands of someone who could take care of her and wouldn't let her die or let her down. Ever since the moment she laid her hand on this handsome man's forearm she knew he was safe, he was the soulmate of an angel and that meant that he wasn't to be hurt by anything other than a human since humans were the only things that angels had no way to control or stop without interfering, but the humans still had free will.

"You really believe that she's innocent Anna?" He asked hardly able to believe it.

"Yes. I have a strong feeling she is. Go see her Dean, she's been asking for you ever since she came round in the ER." Anna smiled opening the door to the unit, soon they'd have a private room for Kate, but until then she was on the ward. Dean thanked the nurse and entered the unit to find his sister awake and seemingly happy. She always did react weirdly to morphine, she always acted like she was high really.

"Deano!" She grinned seeing her big brother.


	5. Chapter 4

Three days later and she was allowed visitors other than her two brothers, Kate had her own room and was surrounded by her family. She'd come to the conclusion she would have to change careers, except she had no idea what to do and she had a gig in six weeks, that she swore she would make. Her morphine dosage was lower she was much more lucid. Dean had already found out that his walking out of the studio had pissed his manager off despite the very good reason and he'd been released from his label, it didn't really bother him, he was a free agent now. Although he had an idea about what to do with his time now.

"So what's the prognosis doc? Will I be doing the show in six weeks?" Kate asked, sounding very methodical.

"I doubt it. Your tibia break may be healed by then, it's the femoral break we're worried about. If you're lucky it may take up to twelve weeks, but it could be even longer. I suggest you postpone your show." The doctor replied.

"I can't postpone, it's a charity show, I have to be there! It's just ten minutes!" Kate lost her cool and was distressed. She looked at her brother who knew how much this show meant to her, she had set up this charity to help the families of people with PTSD after seeing how it had affected her family when it had happened to her father. She would never say the real reason why she started the charity until John wasn't around to feel ashamed as he no doubt would even if he wasn't to feel like that.

"Katie, you can play the guitar sat down right?" Dean said suddenly, he's had time to calm himself and was ready to start to help his sister in any way that she needed and that included being her support during her physio sessions that was no doubt going to be having.

"Yeah, of course." She sounded unsure and was confused at what Dean was getting at.

"If you can't handle being your feet for too long by then, you can do your set sat down. You won't let the charity down, you never could. Six weeks, six weeks and we'll see." Dean offered with a smile, he was always her knight in shining armour. Most people say their partners save them from themselves and for must people they do, but for Kate it was her big brother. She owed so much to him, he got her out of trouble whenever she'd flipped out at someone for saying shit about her family, her dad was a hero and her brothers were amazing. She saw the sense in his plan and agreed that it would work. She had hope now and that was all it would take for her to heal. After talking Kate hrough the options about her physio sessions the doctor left leaving her alone with her family and that was the point where the trouble would brew. Kate was always butting heads with her father, she was too much like her mother not to be able to irritate her father.

"Why didn't you have them call me Katherine?" John asked and Dean sighe, they just couldn't wait to have an argument could they? It was always Kate who rubbed him up the wrong way, when she fell pregnant out of wedlock, he'd flipped out at her. Nothing she ever did seemed good enough for her father, but ever since Kate's sixteenth birthday and she got the motorcycle she had become difficult and it was usually only Dean who could control her.

"Dad, you have enough to deal with, without worrying about calling your kids and their families, getting here and worrying about me. I knew Dean could handle it, he's been handling a lot since the incident and remember how you were when you found out about the fire seven years ago? I do, you were nearly crazy dad, I refused to send you back to that point." Kate argued, she realized it would have sounded like a criticism of John, but it wasn't. She knew he was a good father when he could cope, but when he couldn't he still managed except sometimes he would need his eldest to get him to take his medication when he wouldn't go to see his therapist. It always seemed that when John was dealing with it and getting better, he'd suddenly relapse and they had to be careful around him. He'd relapsed when the fire had erupted at Sam's Palo Alto apartment killing Sam's wife seven years previously.

"You're blaming me?" John hissed as Sam slipped out to avoid the confrontation, he was a painfully shy young man and perhaps that was why he had never had a successful date over the years and as for the sex? He was on a serious dry spell, Dean kept joking that one day Sam would be a born again virgin.

"No I'm not, I'm just saying you couldn't cope and I know why. Dean has coped and he can cope and that's the thing dad, I didn't want to be responsible for making you unable to deal with your life. All I try to do for you, is to make it easier without stress for you." Kate sighed and suddenly Dean realized, she really did know how bad her father was, even before he'd blurted it out after his last show. She was trying to help in her own way. She wasn't trying to push her dad out, she was trying to save him. John saw that too, of course it was tense, but everyone could see how much she loved her family even if she fought with them all the time and made it seem as if she didn't want to know then when things were bad. It cut her like a knife to see her childhood hero so disheartened and she just wanted her daddy back.

"You've been trying to protect dad all these years?" Dean asked making sure he was hearing this correctly.

"Yeah, you raised two difficult teenagers Dean so dad didn't have to. You helped him cope and I kept my life separate from dad so he didn't relapse. I was scared that he'd relapse and sometimes he has and it's scared me." She nodded allowing them to see into her life for the first time in more than a decade. It wouldn't heal the rift that had been made, but it would surely help.

Sam sat out in the corridor waiting for the argument to be over; he had always hated arguments once he went to college. He still remembered the night of the fire; they'd fought that day and had gone to bed angry at each other, he couldn't help but wonder if Jess knew he still loved her and that he was sorry for the fight. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear anyone come and sit beside him.

"It's Sam isn't it?" Anna smiled watching him. She'd just finished her shift and she was intrigued by Sam, he was a quiet soul unlike his siblings who were rather loud and liked to be heard. His was a soul that had been touched by sorrow and grief.

"Erm, yeah. How does it look for her? I know the doctor says she may not be walking properly for a few months, but be honest with me please." Sam begged, he looked so broken that Anna just wanted to protect him.

"The walking is the main problem, she has no other lasting damage and despite hitting her head she doesn't have any brain damage. She'll be fine, I have a feeling she's stubborn enough to surprise everyone." Anna smiled especially when Sam cracked a smile.

"She was always the stubborn one of the family, she's worse than Dad. She reminds me a lot of Jess with her stubbornness." Sam chuckled, his voice sounding a little hollow around the name of this mysterious Jess. Anna got up and pulled him up with her extraordinary strength.

"Coffee, you need it. Have you even slept in the last three days?" She asked him as she almost dragged him to the canteen for some decent coffee and not the caffeine from the machine, which was actually an insult to caffeine.

"Maybe a few hours here and there. Katie's sick of the sight of me by now." Sam shrugged as he let her pull him to the canteen where he ended up drinking his coffee like Dean did and it was odd for him to do that without thinking, normally he liked some foam and a latte.

"She appreciates you being here. She just wishes you'd get some sleep before you end up in the room next to hers." Anna corrected him with a smile. There was something that drew her to Sam, it was strange. He was handsome and tall, but there was unspoken tragedy that made him so delicate. She promised herself that by the time Kate was discharged she'd make a friend out of Sam.

"If only that were true Nurse Milton." Sam sighed as he sipped the strong coffee.


End file.
